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In the face of mixed state assessment testing results, Marshall County Schools teachers and staff will "try to stay process-oriented rather than chase results."
Marshall County Schools Student Services, Federal Programs and State Assessment Director Casey Storm presented the latest assessment scores to Marshall County Board of Education members during their Tuesday meeting. He said the county's "general goal" would be to move students who fall under the "partially meets standards" category to fully meeting standards year to year.
In the county, 35% of students met or exceeded standards in math, a 1% improvement from last year. Reading proficiency remained at 43%, and science proficiency decreased 3% from last year to 24%.
In comparison to statewide scores, West Virginia as a whole sees 36% of students meeting or exceeding standards in math, 45% in reading and 29% in science, according to this year's assessment.
Storm also presented SAT scores taken by 11th graders in West Virginia. He noted that "most college-bound students" take the SAT and the PSAT multiple times.
Storm said third through eighth-grade principals can see their assessment scores in real-time during the spring.
"They're watching as the scores come in real-time, so we immediately start to work through the data as a county and stuff and at the individual school level," Storm said. "We look at county-wide trends, school-wide trends and trends relating to specific standards."
Storm outlined that schools also examine their trends regarding standards and individual students. With this information, they create a transition plan for students moving to the next grade or school.
"For instance, a fifth grader leaving one of our elementary schools and going to middle school can be tracked in an upper honor level track of a co-taught track," Storm said.
Regarding the test results, Storm said schools would continue to "focus on the day-to-day teaching and grade level standards," including sound instructional practices, providing just-in-time interventions and using the resources available to teachers. He said the "results will follow" for kindergarteners through third graders using these practices.
Storm added this would be the second year the Third Grade Success Act would continue alongside "extensive" professional development opportunities, including for service personnel.
Storm said 18 kindergarten students who scored below the benchmark attended the first year of the remediation program this summer. He added that the program would expand to first-grade students next year.'
Board member Lori Kestner questioned whether students received an invitation to attend the program if they did not meet a certain score on the benchmark assessment by the end of the year, which Storm confirmed.
Kestner asked whether Storm received "a lot of participation" from the students invited to attend. Storm responded that they were "happy with the number."
"Of course, we would like every kid below the benchmark to attend, it's a requirement to invite and encourage students to come," Storm added. "We were happy with our number compared to some other counties with the numbers they saw. I think we had more students participate than most counties in our area."
Kestner noted that "giving up a summer for a child is hard," which Storm agreed with.
"The remediation program mimicked the summer school program, which is a three-day program that we've currently shifted to Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday," Storm said. "I think that helps with attendance because you can still have a long weekend."
During board members' reports, Kestner said she observed "a lot of negative stuff in the news" regarding West Virginia education. She said she believed "we're actually on the other side of that."
"I think we're doing much better than people out there in the public think we are," Kestner said.